Plastic recipe file



May 30, 1961 v, L. sHEPARD PLASTIC RECIPE FILE Filed June 4, 1959 zNvENToR Vz'oZaIS'ze/vara ATTORNEY United States Patent PLASTIC RECIPE FILE Viola L. Shepard, i1522 5th St., Clay Center, Kans.

Filed June 4, 1959, Ser. No. 818,136

1 Claim. (Cl. 129-20) This invention relates to the keeping of records of various kinds in various places and including records maintained close at hand and referred to frequently, and relates also to the physical equipment utilized in the keeping of such records in a manner that they are readily available or accessible at all times.

The invention relates specifically to the accumulation of data and to the keeping of the same conveniently and readily available in and around work areas as, for example, information kept by a housewife, such as recipes and the like in a cook book in a kitchen for use in the preparation of food for the family.

Cook books have been employed of printed pages bound together in a more or less inflexible form which has not permitted the addition or removal of recipes, and such books usually have been composed of paper which is absorbent and readily soiled and the useful life of which is relatively short.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved record file for maintaining recipes or formulas and by means of which information may be kept indefinitely, protected from grease and other soiling substances and the contents of which may be easily increased, reduced or otherwise changed or rnodied.

Another object of the invention is to provide a recipe file having independent plastic surfaced front and rear backs, with a connecting binder or hinge and a series of compartment-forming partitions of relatively heavy sheets or leaves conveniently indexed and bearing illustrations of the information of the respective compartment and between which compartment-forming partitions there are disposed intermediate additional leaves having double plastic windows on opposite faces with openings adjacent the center or connecting binder or hinge of the book with such intermediate additional leaves threaded at one edge onto the supporting binder or hinge so that each leaf has four windows, two on the front and two on the rear side of the leaf.

A further object of the invention is to provide a recipe tile of plastic or other substance impervious to water and easily kept cleaned and simulating a book, with a back or cover approximately 6 inches wide and 7 inches high or of other convenient size, and with a relatively stiff or self-supporting back, a series of compartment-forming relatively stift` plastic dividers between which are located leaves each with an upper and lower inwardly opening plastic envelope or windowed container totalling 51/2 inches wide and 7 inches high and adapted to receive and protect cards containing specific information such as, for example, favorite recipes.

A further object of the invention is to use the plastic dividers to separate or subdivide information relative to the courses of a meal or different foods such as meats, fowl, sh, seafood, salads, sauces, desserts and the like.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

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invention:

Fig. 2, the device open;

Fig. 3, one of the transparent leaves with pockets; and

Figs. 4 and 5, sections on the lines 4--4 and 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Briefly stated, the invention is a recipe, data or the like tile in book form having relatively stiff front and back cover members with sheet dividers defining sections and intermediate leaves having portions of multiple plies connected along their top, intermediate, outer and bottom portions, with pockets opening inwardly and with the covers, dividers and intermediate leaves connected by a hinge binder, such intermediate leaves being adapted t0 receive data containing sheets or cards readable from both sides of the page.

With continued reference to the drawing, the recipe le or file for other information comprises a generally booklike structure having covers 10 and 12 of relatively stiff material and of waterproof plastic, or plastic covered for protection from grease and other substances likely to soil and of a material capable of being readily wiped clean with a damp cloth.

`Between the covers or outer members 10 and 12 are disposed a series of relatively stiff plastic leaves or dividers 13, each with an index tab 14 to facilitate finding the desired compartment or grouping. One or more relatively thin plastic sheets or leaves 15 are provided between each pair of dividers 13 and such leaves are fabricated from a single sheet of transparent plastic. Each leaf 15 is formed by folding the inner edge 16 back on itself to form a double thickness for a hinge and .folding the outer edge 17 back toward the inner edge to form a pocket. The top and bottom of the sheet are closed by heat seals 18 and 18 and a central heat seal 19 divides the sheet into a pair of pockets with openings 20 and 21 at the inner edge of the leaf and into which pockets recipe cards 22 are removably received. Since the sheets are of transparent plastic, the recipe cards may be placed back to back so that a page having two pockets, one above the other, may hold two oppositely disposed recipes in each pocket.

The covers 10 and 12, the indexed dividers 13 and the sheets 15 are adapted to be secured in assembled relation by means of a hinge or binder 23 having retaining portions or lingers 24 extending in a circular path through openings 25, 26, and 27, respectively, ofthe covers backs, dividers and intermediate leaves of the device.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that there is provided by the present invention a relatively simple, inexpensive file for information such as recipes and the like of material which can be kept readily available and clean and the information protected at all times, as well as a iile which lends itself to modification either by addition, removal or otherwise and that due to its construction its use is simplified and made easier, with consequent saving of time.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is illustrated in the drawing and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the accompanying claim.

What is claimed is:

A 'recipe file in book form comprising the combination of a pair of relatively stii cover members, a hinge connecting said cover members, at least two leaf dividers between said cover members and at least one transparent leaf between said dividers, said cover members, dividers and leaf being constructed of moisture repellent plastic material, said cover members each having a series of equally spaced openings adjacent one edge and extending substantially the full length thereof, said hinge being of a Patented May 30, 1961.

length less than the length of said cover members and having a back portion with a series of ngers extending from one side of the back portion in a circular path, said ngers being spaced apart a distance corresponding to the spacing of the openings in said coverfrnembers. and extending therethrough, said leaf dividers each having an index tab along one edge to facilitate location of particular data. and a series of openings along its'opposite edge corresponding generally to the spacingof the `fingers of said hinge, said ngers extending through the openings in said dividers to connect said dividers to saidcover members, said transparent leaf being formed of a transparent rectangular sheet including a double thickness along one edge havingva series of equally spaced openings therein corresponding to the openings in said cover members and connected to` said cover members andv said dividers by said hinge, said double thickness being formed by folding a narrowrnarginal portion of said sheet on itself said leaf including multiplepockets open adjacent to said double thickness and with the opening of said pockets being spaced outwardly of said hinge and generally parallel thereto whereby cards having indicia thereon may References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,094,923 Palmer Apr. 28, 1914 1,906,311 Burgstaller May 2, 1933 2,732,875 Martin Jan. 31, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 327,567 Great Britain Apr. l0, 1930 624,306 Great Britain June 2, 1949 632,181

Great Britain Nov. 17, 1949 

